![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/60000/images/_60561_foster.JPG)
![image: [ One of the nationwide chain of protest pyres ]](/olmedia/60000/images/_60561_beacon.jpg){kind=tracking}
More than 5,600 symbolic pyres were set on fire on Thursday night to demonstrate the depth of anger in the countryside about issues from hunting to BSE.
The weekend of action - which culminates in the "Countryside March" on Sunday - are in protest over several issues, including the anti-hunting Bill being steered through the Commons by Labour MP Mike Foster.
The Government's house-building plans and its handling of the beef crisis have also brought together farmers and landowners' groups to form a coalition, called the Countryside Alliance.
The group's organiser Sam Butler said: "It is significant that all the UK farming unions and landowner associations are working together for the first time in full co-operation with country sportsmen on making the beacons a symbolic gesture of solidarity."
'Unique landscape under threat'
Thursday night's events culminated in the centre of London in a private square near Victoria Station, loaned to the campaign for the night by the Duke of Westminster.
A clutch of VIPs, including four MPs and Vogue model Iris Palmer, was paraded before the media in a bid to demonstrate the breadth of support for the Countryside Alliance.
![[ image: width=150]](/olmedia/60000/images/_60561_rural150.jpg)
The MPs - Labour leftwinger Kate Hoey, Independent Martin Bell and Liberal Democrats Paul Tyler and Lembit Opik - lit the final beacon on a plinth outside a marquee.
Mr Bell stressed that he was attending the event on behalf of farmers in his Cheshire constituency. He said: "I don't campaign on fox hunting, I'm here for my farmers and to put the case that the unique landscape in my constituency is under threat."
Tensions in the countryside
Sunday's march from the Embankment to Hyde Park in London is expected to attract more than 120,000 people and special trains have been laid on to cope with demand.
One example of the groundswell of opinion that will be represented is the campaign against two new housing developments in Devon.
Local county councillor Derek Button has founded DONT (Devonshire Against New Towns) to fight plans for the new homes.
"I cannot believe that it is right to build over hundreds of acres of green field sites," he told the BBC.
Landowners have two years to open fields
(25 Feb 98 | UK)
Row over 'right to roam' plans
(31 Jan 98 | UK)
Hunting protests go ahead peacefully
(26 Dec 97 | UK)
MPs vote to ban hunting
(29 Nov 97 | UK)
Foxhunting ban faces delay
(04 Nov 97 | UK)
The Ramblers' Association
The Interactive Footpath
Department of Transport, Environment and the Regions
British Field Sports Society/ Countryside Alliance
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Marchers arrive in London
Rural schools saved by the bell
Tories run by gifted amateurs - Saatchi
Hague puts case for change
Queen backs historic change to who may rule